History of Western Modern Art Painting, Sculpture, Architecture

Author: H. H. Arnason (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-11-01
Features: Arnason is a renowned art historian in the United States. A History of Modern Art is his masterpiece. This is a completely comprehensive treatise on modern art, with its most distinctive feature being the complete and unified integration of painting, sculpture, and architecture to provide a thorough exposition of modern art. The book contains approximately 1,500 illustrations, with a strong emphasis on works analysis, where nearly every piece is mentioned. The analysis is meticulous, and the language is vivid and accessible, making it suitable for general readers and students of modern art. The book emphasizes the discoveries of modern painting, sculpture, and architecture but also acknowledges the origins of modern painting in the 19th century. A History of Modern Art is a rare gem in terms of its layout and design among works of a similar nature.
This book primarily focuses on the 20th century, from its early stages to 1940, offering a comprehensive examination of the works and creative attitudes of modernist pioneers. When discussing their works, the book first investigates the precise examination of art as an aesthetic object. In this process, the overall organization of space, color, line, and surface is thoroughly explored. The book also appropriately addresses the significance of portraiture and the attitude toward subjects in various modern art movements, such as Expressionism, Surrealism, and Pop Art (Pop Art). Additionally, it recognizes that an artwork or a building cannot exist in a vacuum—it is a product of its broader environment. This environment is a social and cultural system that coexists alongside literature, music, and other arts, and it involves the philosophy and science of a particular era. Beyond its extensive and analytical observations of modern art and architecture, this book can also serve as a dictionary, containing a wealth of detailed material, especially in the later sections covering art from 1950 onwards, which are arranged in a dictionary format.